Tohru hurried home today. She was going to help Shigure and Momoji set up for Hatori's birthday. Shigure had blabbed it to them so they were planning a surprise party for him.
Tohru carefully shifted the party supplies that she was holding. She didn't want to drop them.
A fierce wind was blowing against her. Tohru didn't know why, but the feeling in the wind just felt familiar. "Worthless Idiot." were two words that reached her ears.
Tohru froze in place, almost falling from the force of the wind. Her eyes were wide and they quickly glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Where are you?" she said out loud.
Tohru's body jerked as she felt something connect on her lower right back. She hissed in pain a bit before sinking to her knees. Another blow came, this time hitting her right shoulder.
Tohru felt the blackness starting to creep into her vision and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She felt another presence at her back but she couldn't get her body to move. The supplies fell out of her hands and sprawled across the sidewalk.
"We've missed you. Don't think that this is the last time you'll be hearing from me………" a voice whispered in her ear in English. It said more but Tohru was already unconscious.
Hatori was trying to calm everyone down who was standing, sitting, and/or pacing in Shigure's living room that really didn't fit 11 worried Zodiac members and Kyo at once. They all rushed at Hatori when he enter.
"Is she alright?" "Onee-san?" "Why did she have to get sick?" "How is Miss Honda?" "Is our flower okay?" "I must make some of my special tea. Can she drink it?" "HOW'S TOHRU?!" "Toorrrhuuu-ccchaaannn!" "If this Is My fault THEN I AM VERY SORRY!!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!" "Is she alright?" they all asked at once.
Hatori stared at them for a minute. "She is. She was knocked out by someone and will have some bruises but other than that, all we need to do is wait for her to wake up." he said. Hatori walked back out of the room and up to Tohru's, very aware that Momoji, Kisa, Hiro, Haru, Kyo, and Yuki were all following.
He turned back to look at them. "Just don't get loud." he ordered.
Tohru groaned as the pain in her head seemed to explode. She slowly opened her eyes to see seven of the Zodiac members sitting around her bed. The younger ones and Hatori were asleep, Hatori from working to hard of course, and Kyo and Yuki were on each of her sides.
Yuki immediately noticed that she was awake. "Kyo, wake up Hatori." he quietly said.
Tohru started to protest but Yuki shushed her. Hatori immediately started checking her when he was completely awake. "How are you feeling, Tohru-san?" he asked.
Tohru shook her head and closed her eyes for a bit. "Just a headache and I'm a little tired." she said. She tried to sit up but all three of them pushed her back down.
Hatori gave her a small smile. "Tohru-san, please rest. We are all worried."
Yuki also agreed. "You have helped all of us out in many different ways and we are all very grateful to you."
"You've even helped out Hiro, even if you didn't realize it. By helping out Kisa, you also helped Hiro." Haru said as he slightly turned his head from where he was leaning against her table near the bed. He had the fast asleep Kisa in his lap.
Tohru smiled at all four of them, even if Kyo didn't say anything. She jumped a bit when the phone the was in her drawer rung.
Haru sat up, being very careful with Kisa, and pulled the phone out of the drawer. "Who would be calling you at………..two in the morning?" he wonder while handing Tohru her phone.
Tohru looked at the name on it and groaned a bit. "When will you actually get the time difference right?" she quietly cried into the phone.
The person answer in English. (All talk in English is in italics and regular is Japanese.) "YOU ANSWERED!!!" a loud male voice screamed through the phone. "HINATA!!! Torie answered the phone!!!"
Tohru sighed. "Will you stop screaming?" she shot back in English, surprising the Sohma guys. "You do realize that it is two in the morning here?"
"Well, we are in Ireland and its midnight here!!! We'll be there tomorrow Torie-chan!!!" the guy happily said.
Tohru yawned. Even though she had been unconscious, she was still pretty tired. "Then I will talk with you then. See ya." she said before closing the phone. She yawned and let her head sink into the pillow.
"Who was that?" Yuki quietly asked.
"Just an old friend." she said before falling asleep.
Hatori smiled a bit before shaking the younger Sohma's a bit awake. They groaned but still let themselves be led downstairs to where everyone else who didn't live there was already asleep. Yuki and Kyo both went to their rooms and the Sohma house was silent except for the sound of breathing.
Tohru woke up around six in the morning and that was only because she heard someone in her room.
"Too bad that your alright. But that won't last." the same voice as earlier whispered before disappearing.
Tohru's eyes were wide with fear and she was slightly sweating. To the Sohma's, it would look like she had had a nightmare.
"Tohru-san?" a quiet voice said from the door. Hatori was standing there. "Are you alright?" he asked while walking in. He felt her forehead while waiting for her to calm down a bit.
"I just had a bad dream." Tohru said. "Is everyone still here?" she asked.
Hatori nodded.
"Then we are going to need a lot of breakfast. Could you please help me out, Hatori?" she asked, knowing that he wouldn't let her cook.
Hatori sighed. She pushed herself too much. "Alright. But please, don't do too much work today." he said.
Tohru nodded and they both went and started breakfast. Soon, everyone but Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure were up. They were never really up and Kyo and Yuki had stayed up with the others to make sure Tohru was okay.
Soon, there was a knock at the door. Haru was closest so he got up and answered it. He was surprised to see three strangers standing at the door. "Can I help you?" he asked.
"Yeah, we are lost and have no clue where we are going. We crashed into a tree about three miles back a have been wandering around for about an hour. Can you give us directions?" the guy of the group asked. He had dirty blond hair that was long and was pulled into a low ponytail.
Haru was confused. He couldn't understand a word the guy was saying. "I don't understand what you are saying." he said.
The guy opened his mouth again but two small hands clamped over it. A small girl with long black and brown hair popped up over his shoulder.
The other girl sighed. "I am sorry about him." she slowly said, trying to remember the Japanese language. "We are try to find this." she handed him a slip of paper that unfortunately had English writing on it.
"Could you three hold on for a second?" Haru asked. They nodded and he walked back inside. "Does anyone understand English?" he asked.
Tohru and everyone else stared at him for a minute before Tohru nodded. "There are three people who got lost outside and they don't really seem to speak Japanese. Can you help?" he explained.
Tohru nodded him and followed to the front of the house. She froze when she saw the three people standing outside. Haru looked back at Tohru. "Are you alright?" he asked.
The small girl let out a small happy dry before running at Tohru. "TOHRU!" she yelled while throwing herself at Tohru. Tohru caught her and hugged her. Haru was very confused.
The guy also ran forward but the girl grabbed him before he could crush her. "Aaron, calm down. It is good to see you Lea-----I mean, Tohru." she happily said. The girl jumped off of Tohru and said a rush of words at her. It didn't sound like Japanese or English.
Tohru smiled. "Are you working on English or Japanese?"
"Japanese!" the girl happily said. "I get good soon!" she happily said.
Tohru smiled at her and then seemed to remember that Haru was there too. "Hatsuharu-san, I'm sorry. These are the people that I was talking to last night. And they always seem to show up at weird times!!"
Everyone else now outside. "Tohru, who are these people?" was the question on all of there minds.
"Tohru, do all of these people live here?" Aaron asked, clearly confused.
"Aaron, I know that you speak Japanese fluently so stop acting like an idiot. The people who actually live here are still asleep because they were up worrying about me. I was apparently found out cold." she explained.
Aaron gasped and flung his arms around Tohru. "It wasn't one of you that hurt Tohru, was it?" he glared at them. He groaned a bit because Tohru elbowed him in the stomach.
"No, but I think that I know who did." she told him.
Aaron nodded. "Now, Tohru, you need to introduce us to them and them to use." he happily said.
Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure were up and Hatori had explained what he knew. Yuki groaned silently when he saw how the guy was acting. He was like another Ayame.
Tohru smiled. "Everyone, these three people are friends of mine. The hyper one is Aaron Ryuu, the calm girl is Hinata Ryuu, Aaron's twin, and the small girl is Kalli Ryuu, their cousin. You three, these people are Hatori, Ayame, Yuki, Kyo, Rin, Ristu, Kagura, Shigure, Kisa, Momoji, Hiro, and the guy you already met is Hatsuharu, called Haru." she pointed to each person while introducing them. "Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure are the ones who live here."
Hinata gasped. "We are not letting our si…..oof." she said when Kalli poked her in the side. "Yes Kalli?"
"Tohru glare." she said. It was true. Tohru was giving Hinata the death glare. "They no know." Kalli simply said.
Hinata grabbed Tohru and pulled her to their side. "We will be taking her for a bit. We will return her in about three hours." she said while dragging Tohru away. Tohru smiled and waved bye to them before the completely disappeared around a bend.
Shigure was the first one to speak. "Did that guy seem………..familiar to you?" he asked.
Everyone groaned and went back inside to have breakfast.
Tohru eventually got free of Hinata's death grip on her arm. "Could you please just keep our mouth shut while around them?" Tohru asked in an exasperated voice.
Hinata gave her a questioning look. "Why?"
"Because you called me Lea in front of Haru and you almost revealed another secret." Tohru said. "They don't know anything and I don't plan on telling them. Why are you hear, by the way?" she asked, realizing that she had no idea.
"A Leo has been found." Aaron happily said. "We are taking you to meet him!"
Tohru groaned.
Hinata sighed. "Stop being so dramatic. Leo is Lea's counterpart, after all." Hinata said before walking ahead.
Tohru sighed and quietly followed. Something jumped onto her back and she quickly sifted her weight.
"Don't worry Tohru. I met him and he seems nice." Kalli said in Spanish.
Tohru sighed. "That's what I was told last time. I'm still sore in my left hand because of that one." Tohru flexed her wrist a bit.
"You know something that I don't. Please tell me." Kalli begged.
"TOHRU!" Hinata roughly said. "You are not to tell her anything." she ordered.
"Sorry Kalli." Tohru sadly said. They walked in a park that Tohru had been in before. There was a secluded area in the back that she guessed was where they were meeting him.
Hinata was the first one to step through. "Kaoru-sama, it is good to see you." she said. Nest went Aaron, then Kalli, and Tohru stayed back until they called for her.
"Tabitha, I mean, Tohru. You can step in here now." Kaoru said.
Tohru took a deep breath and stepped through the bushes and into the clearing. She immediately saw the tall woman with dusty white hair. "Kaoru-sama." Tohru bowed low to her. She had closed her eyes and she felt Kaoru's hand running through her hair.
"You have greatly changed in the three years that you were away. Your hair has changed colors. It looks………..different." Kaoru said. It translated into 'I'm very happy to see you again.' "Come and meet Christopher." Kaoru said.
Tohru stood and looked over a bit from where the others were standing. A tall, broad shoulder boy who looked like a football player stood. He stepped towards her. "This is Lea?" he asked.
Kaoru nodded.
"She seems timid." Christopher smirked haughtily.
Tohru glared at him. "I may look timid but you should know better. I have had this for many more years than you." she said in a low voice. Her face was not smiling at all.
Christopher sneered at her. "Yes, you are the different one. I would suggest that you learn your place. The males are more powerful than females, anyway."
Tohru growled from the bottom of her throat. Her eyes flashed a golden color for a bit. "Do. Not. Make. Me. Angry." she warned him before walking out of the clearing.
Kaoru was the first one to speak. "Christopher, I would learn my place if I was you. She is a year older than you and has trained for most of her life. She is much stronger than you will ever hope to be." Kaoru calmly said before walking after Tohru with Aaron and Kalli following her.
Christopher growled loudly. Hinata put her hand lightly on his shoulder. "Do not worry. She will soon learn her place." Hinata roughly said.
Kyo was worried. He was worried about Tohru being with those people. He was laying on the roof, trying to calm down but it wasn't working. He was exhausted because of staying up. He hadn't actually fallen asleep until about five and then he had woken up at seven when the friends of Tohru's had gotten there.
Right now, it was lunch time. She had been out for longer than three hours. Kyo felt his eyes getting heavier as sleep came and he felt into a deep sleep.
Yuki was also worried, but not as much as Kyo. He trusted Tohru and she knew them. The front door opened and he stuck his head out of the kitchen.
"Hello!" Tohru happily said. Aaron, Kalli, and another person that Yuki didn't recognize walked in behind her. "Yuki, this is Kaoru." she smiled
Yuki nodded. "Miss Honda, I tried to start lunch………." he trailed off.
Tohru tried to open her mouth but Aaron cut her off. "I know this is going to sound strange, but have either of you ever had pancakes?" he asked. Neither of them had. "Then I'm making some. Tohru, you aren't cooking today because of getting yourself hurt and that is an order." he said.
Tohru tried to protest but know Kaoru's attention was on her. "You were hurt?" she asked.
Before Tohru could answer, Shigure came out of his study. "Hello Tohru. Could all of you please keep it quiet around here today? Tori-san is resting in my room." Shigure said.
Tohru nodded. "Shigure-san, have you ever had pancakes before?" she asked.
Shigure nodded.
"Aaron said that he was making pancakes for us and we don't know what they are." she said. "He kicked me out of the kitchen for today." she explained.
"Believe me, they are good if made correctly. Ma'am, I'm Shigure Sohma." he said, introducing himself to Kaoru.
"I am Kaoru Ryuu. I guess you could say that I am the babysitter for all the Ryuu's. from what I can tell, there are a lot of Sohma's." she said.
Kalli sighed and ran over to Shigure. "Kaoru really say that she is glad to meet Shigure-san." Kalli happily said.
Kaoru sighed. "Tohru, is there somewhere I can talk with you privately?" she asked.
Tohru nodded and led her and Kalli to her room. She made sure that Kalli was quiet because Shigure's room was down the hall from hers. "You want to see my injury?" she asked.
Kaoru nodded and Tohru pulled her shirt off. Kaoru gently touched each of the spots that she had been hit in. "There is no mistaking it. This is the Gentle Swan style. Is your shoulder giving you any trouble?"
"Kaoru, I'm fine. The guy who is resting up here is the Sohma Family doctor. If I got sick or hurt, they guys would call him." she explained.
Kaoru nodded and let Tohru put her shirt back on. She reached forward and pressed on Tohru's left eye. "You have about two more weeks. You need to reveal it to them soon."
Tohru sighed and looked over at Kalli who was asleep on her bed. "How is her mother doing?"
"She doesn't know Kalli anymore. Kalli came to me and asked to make her forget. The girl may always seem so happy but it is just a façade. She is just like you."
"No, she isn't." Tohru fell silent.
Kaoru stood and put her hand on Tohru's shoulder. "Tabitha, Tohru, Lea, whatever you are going by. They will understand. They trusted you with their secret and now it is time for you to trust them with yours." Kaoru quietly said before leaving the room.
Tohru didn't know that someone else had been listening but Kaoru did. Hatori had woken up and started to walk down the hall when he heard Tohru talking with someone. He was confused about the secrets that they talked about and when Kaoru had said their secret, he was a bit alarmed.
Hatori had gone down the stairs just before Kaoru had come out. Whatever Tohru was hiding, they would have to trust her like she had trusted them.
